HANOI (AFP) – Vietnam’s three major telecom companies are expected to be partly privatised next year with the majority of the stakes remaining under government control, officials said. 

State-owned Vinaphone, MobiFone and the army’s Viettel said earlier this year they would open their mobile activities to the public without providing any firm calendar dates.

“We plan to equitise them next year, according to a program approved by the government in 2005,” said Nguyen Khac Lap, office manager of Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Ministry.

“We have set no specific date for each company. There are a lots of things to do before the plan is achieved,” he said.

Vinaphone and MobiFone, both subsidiaries of state-owned giant Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corp (VNPT), currently lead the market.

But the Vietnam Military Electronics and Telecommunications Co. has won widespread praise for its dynamic approach to business since it started operations in late 2004.

The country is considered the second fastest growing telecoms market in the world after China. There are about 13 million mobile phone users in the country of more than 84 million people.

Several foreign groups have shown interests in the sector, among whom French France Telecom, Swedish Comvik and Norwegian Telenor.

Vietnamese banks, investment funds and other local private companies have also followed the process closely, observers said.

But major details remain to be settled. The government has not yet decided on the size of a maximum stake foreign investors can acquire.

“We advised authorities to choose one strategic partner for each company, someone that would invest and bring methods, technology and know-how,” an industry insider said, asking not to be named.

“In a second phase, they could also list the group at the stock exchange and open it to other smaller investors.”

“The privatisation will be a long and progressive process,” he added saying the 2007 target was not impossible but might prove difficult to reach.

Vietnam’s telecom sector has experienced major changes over recent years and will face further pressure once Vietnam joins the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Privatisation of the sector has been fiercely negotiated with foreign countries, especially the United States, and is part of Vietnam’s commitment to join the world trade body.

“The integration of the equitised companies would lower the state’s investment burden, sharing the costs among investors,” said the English-language daily Vietnam News, citing the deputy minister of posts and telecommunications.

Internet and the landlines network will remain entirely controlled by the Vietnamese state.

Source- http://au.news.yahoo.com